Method of outputting content of text data to sender voice

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure discloses a method of outputting a text content of text data to a sender&#39;s voice.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to text data output technology, and moreparticularly, to a method of outputting a text content of text datareceived on a terminal to a sender's voice.

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2014-0101232 filed on Aug. 6, 2014 and Korean Patent Application No.10-2015-0110072 filed on Aug. 4, 2015, the disclosures of which areexpressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, with the development of mobile communication technology, notonly voice calls but also text messages are being widely used. The voicecalls and transmission and reception of text messages are made throughmobile communication terminals, such as, including mobile phones andsmartphones.

The text messages are generally outputted in visually recognizable text.That is, a terminal which received a text message outputs the textmessage only in text format. When text messages are only outputted intext format, visually impaired persons cannot read the content of thetext messages, and even persons whose vision is not impaired oftencannot read the content of the text messages while they are doingactivities, for example, working, exercising, and driving. Further,messages in text format have limitation in conveying emotions orfriendliness due to their inability. Recently, with the widespread useand the growing range of applications of mobile communication terminals,there is the demand for technology that stimulates emotions of terminalusers using mobile communication terminals.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present disclosure is designed to solve the problem of the relatedart, and therefore, the present disclosure is intended to output thetext content of text data to a sender's voice.

The present disclosure is further intended to continuously update voiceinformation of a text message sender using a voice signal transmittedand received during a voice call with the text message sender, to allowa voice more similar to a real voice of the sender to be outputted withthe increasing number of calls.

These and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure may beunderstood from the following detailed description and will become morefully apparent from the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.Also, it will be easily understood that the objects and advantages ofthe present disclosure may be realized by the means shown in theappended claims and combinations thereof.

Technical Solution

To achieve the object, a method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to an aspect of the present disclosure whereby a voice isoutputted through a communication terminal, includes transmitting, by atransmitting terminal, text data to a receiving terminal, andoutputting, by the receiving terminal, text content of the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal to a voice of a sender of thetext data.

Before the receiving the text data, the method may further includeconstructing a voice database for voice data of the sender of the textdata.

The constructing a voice database may include storing voice data of thesender of the text data and text data corresponding to the voice data inmatched form.

The constructing a voice database may include storing voice data of thesender of the text data and text data corresponding to the voice datafor each sentence, each word, and each syllable.

The constructing a voice database may include constructing a voicedatabase for voice data of the sender of the text data using voice datatransmitted and received during a voice call using the transmittingterminal and the receiving terminal.

The constructing a voice database may include constructing a voicedatabase with the repetition of voice calls between the transmittingterminal and the receiving terminal. The constructing a voice databasemay include further storing text data absent in an already constructedvoice database among text data corresponding to voice data constitutinga voice call between the transmitting terminal and the receivingterminal in matched form with voice data corresponding to the text dataabsent in the voice database, for each sentence, each word, and eachsyllable.

The constructing a voice database may include updating and storing textdata present in an already constructed voice database among text datacorresponding to voice data constituting a voice call between thetransmitting terminal and the receiving terminal, in matched form withvoice data corresponding to text data absent in the voice database, foreach sentence, each word, and each syllable.

After the constructing a voice database, the method of outputting a textto a voice may further include quantitating a construction degree of thevoice database constructed through the voice call between thetransmitting terminal and the receiving terminal.

After the quantitating, the method may further include grading theconstruction degree of the voice database by a predetermined grade basedon a value quantitated in the quantitating.

After the grading, the method may further include outputting, by thereceiving terminal, the grade graded in the grading through a display.

The outputting the graded grade may include outputting different visualinformation based on the predetermined grade.

The quantitating may include quantitating a construction degree of thevoice database for each text data sender by summing up a number ofsentences, a number of words, and a number of syllables in the voicedata and the text data stored in the voice database for each sentence,each word, and each syllable.

The quantitating may include quantitating a construction degree of thevoice database for each text data sender by providing each weight to anumber of sentences, a number of words, and a number of syllables in thevoice data and the text data stored in the voice database for eachsentence, each word, and each syllable, and summing up the weightednumber of sentences, the weighted number of words, and the weightednumber of syllables.

The weight provided to the number of sentences may be higher than orequal to the weight provided to the number of words, and the weightprovided to the number of words may be higher than or equal to theweight provided to the number of syllables.

Before the outputting to a voice, the method may further includeconducting a search to determine whether information that matchesinformation associated with the sender of the text data is present inthe voice database, extracting, from the voice database, voice datacorresponding to the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal based on a search result in the conducting a search, andtransmitting the voice data extracted in the extracting to the receivingterminal.

As a search result in the conducting a search, when information thatmatches information associated with the sender of the text data ispresent in the voice database, the extracting voice data may includeextracting voice data of the sender of the text data stored in the voicedatabase.

As a search result in the conducting a search, when information thatmatches information associated with the sender of the text data isabsent in the voice database, the extracting voice data may includeextracting a robot voice stored in the voice database.

Before the outputting to a voice, the method may further includeconducting a search to determine whether information that matchesinformation associated with the sender of the text data is present inthe voice database, extracting, from the voice database, voice datacorresponding to the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal based on a search result of the conducting a search, andtransmitting the voice data extracted in the extracting to the receivingterminal, wherein the extracting voice data includes extracting, fromthe voice database, voice data that matches a sentence corresponding toa sentence included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal, extracting, from the voice database, voice data that matches aword corresponding to a word included in the text data transmitted fromthe transmitting terminal, and extracting, from the voice database,voice data that matches a syllable corresponding to a syllable includedin the text data transmitted from the transmitting terminal.

The extracting a word may be performed after the extracting a sentence,and when extracting voice data for a predetermined sentence issuccessively performed in the extracting a sentence, extracting a wordfor the predetermined sentence may be not performed, and the extractinga syllable may be performed after the extracting a word, and whenextracting voice data for a predetermined word is successively performedin the extracting a word, extracting a syllable for the predeterminedword may be not performed. The extracting a sentence, the extracting aword, and the extracting a syllable may be iteratively performed on atleast two sentences included in the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal.

To achieve the object, a system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to another aspect of the present disclosure includes acommunication network, a transmitting terminal to transmit text data toa receiving terminal via the communication network, and a receivingterminal to output voice data of a sender of the text data whotransmitted the text data, the voice data corresponding to the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal via the communicationnetwork.

The communication network may be provided with a voice server whichconstructs a voice database for voice data of the sender of the textdata.

The voice server may match voice data of the sender of the text data totext data corresponding to the voice data, and store the same in thevoice database.

The voice server may store voice data of the sender of the text data andtext data corresponding to the voice data for each sentence, each word,and each syllable.

The voice server may construct a voice database for voice data of thesender of the text data using voice data transmitted and received duringa voice call using the transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal.

The voice server may construct the voice database with the repetition ofvoice calls between the transmitting terminal and the receivingterminal.

The voice server may further store text data absent in an alreadyconstructed voice database among text data corresponding to voice dataconstituting a voice call between the transmitting terminal and thereceiving terminal, in matched form with voice data corresponding to thetext data absent in the voice database, for each sentence, each word,and each syllable.

The voice server may update and store text data present in an alreadyconstructed voice database among text data corresponding to voice dataconstituting a voice call between the transmitting terminal and thereceiving terminal, in matched form with voice data corresponding totext data absent in the voice database, for each sentence, each word,and each syllable.

The voice server may quantitate a construction degree of the voicedatabase constructed through the voice call between the transmittingterminal and the receiving terminal.

The voice server may grade the construction degree of the voice databaseinto a predetermined grade based on the quantitated value.

The receiving terminal may output the grade graded into thepredetermined grade through a display.

The receiving terminal may output different visual information based onthe predetermined grade.

The voice server may quantitate a construction degree of the voicedatabase for each text data sender by summing up a number of sentences,a number of words, and a number of syllables of the voice data and thetext data stored in the voice database for each sentence, each word, andeach syllable.

The voice server may quantitate a construction degree of the voicedatabase for each text data sender by providing each weight to a numberof sentences, a number of words, and a number of syllables in the voicedata and the text data stored in the voice database for each sentence,each word, and each syllable, and summing up the weighted number ofsentences, the weighted number of words, and the weighted number ofsyllables.

The weight provided to the number of sentences may be higher than orequal to the weight provided to the number of words, and the weightprovided to the number of words may be higher than or equal to theweight provided to the number of syllables.

The voice server may receive the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal, may conduct a search to determine whetherinformation that matches information associated with the sender of thetext data is present in the voice database, may extract, from the voicedatabase, voice data corresponding to the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal based on a result of the conducting a search, andmay transmit the extracted voice data to the receiving terminal.

As a result of the conducting a search, when information that matchesinformation associated with the sender of the text data is present inthe voice database, the voice server may extract voice data of thesender of the text data stored in the voice database.

As a result of the conducting a search, when information that matchesinformation associated with the sender of the text data is absent in thevoice database, the voice server may extract a robot voice stored in thevoice database.

The voice server may receive the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal, may conduct a search to determine whetherinformation that matches information associated with the sender of thetext data is present in the voice database, may extract, from voicedatabase, voice data corresponding to the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal based on a result of the conducting a search, andmay transmit the extracted voice data to the receiving terminal, and inthe extracting, from the voice database, voice data corresponding to thetext data transmitted from the transmitting terminal based on a resultof the conducting a search, the voice server may conduct a search for atext content included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal in the voice database, and may extract at least one of voicedata that matches a sentence corresponding to a sentence included in thetext data transmitted from the transmitting terminal, voice data thatmatches a word corresponding to a word included in the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal, and voice data that matchesa syllable corresponding to a syllable included in the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal.

When voice data that matches a sentence corresponding to a predeterminedsentence included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal is present in the voice database, the voice server may extractonly voice data that matches the sentence corresponding to thepredetermined sentence, and when voice data that matches a wordcorresponding to a predetermined word included in the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal is present in the voicedatabase, the voice server may extract only voice data that matches theword corresponding to the predetermined word.

The voice server may perform voice data extraction on at least twosentences included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present disclosure, when a transmitting terminaltransmits text data, a receiving terminal can output the content of thetext data transmitted from the transmitting terminal not only in textbut also to a voice. Particularly, according to the present disclosure,the content of the text data can be outputted to a sender's voice.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a caller's voice isstored in organized form based on voice data transmitted and receivedduring a voice call using a communication terminal, so with theincreasing number of calls, a voice more similar to a real voice of atext message sender is outputted.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, not only a textmessage transmitted from a sender but also a text signal which can beoutputted using a terminal is outputted to a sender's voice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and together with the foregoing disclosure, serve toprovide further understanding of the technical aspect of the presentdisclosure, and thus, the present disclosure is not construed as beinglimited to the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a voice database according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of extracting voice dataaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a process whereby a receivingterminal outputs a sentence in a text message transmitted from atransmitting terminal to a voice by using a system for outputting a textto a voice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart schematically showing a method of outputting atext to a voice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Priorto the description, it should be understood that the terms used in thespecification and the appended claims should not be construed as limitedto general and dictionary meanings, but interpreted based on themeanings and concepts corresponding to technical aspects of the presentdisclosure on the basis of the principle that the inventor is allowed todefine terms appropriately for the best explanation.

Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable examplefor the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scopeof the disclosure, so it should be understood that other equivalents andmodifications could be made thereto without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure.

Also, in the description of the present disclosure, when it is deemedthat certain detailed description of related well-known features orfunctions may obscure the essence of the disclosure, its detaileddescription is omitted herein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes atransmitting terminal 10, a receiving terminal 20, and a mobilecommunication network 30.

The transmitting terminal 10 and the receiving terminal 20 is acommunication terminal capable of transmitting and receiving text dataand making a voice call. For example, the communication terminal may bea smartphone or a tablet PC. Although the transmitting terminal 10 andthe receiving terminal 20 are shown as a smartphone, a smartphone isprovided by way of illustration only, the transmitting terminal 10 andthe receiving terminal 20 of the present disclosure are not limited to asmartphone.

The text data transmitted from the transmitting terminal 10 is data thatcan be displayed in text through a display of the receiving terminal 20.More specifically, the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal 10 is data that is modulated in the transmitting terminal 10and transmitted to the receiving terminal 20, and after beingtransmitted to the receiving terminal 20, the data is demodulated in thereceiving terminal 20 and displayed in text on a display. For instance,the text data may be a collection of bits.

According to an embodiment, when a user of the transmitting terminal 10,i.e., a sender inputs a text into the transmitting terminal 10 andtransmits the same, the text is modulated into text data and transmittedto the receiving terminal 20 via the mobile communication network 30.

The receiving terminal 20 may demodulate the received text data into avisually recognizable text and display the same. In addition to thereceived text data, the receiving terminal 20 may output a variety ofvisual information through the display.

The receiving terminal 20 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may output the content of the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal 10 not only in text but also to a voice.

More specifically, the receiving terminal 20 may output the text contentof the text data to a sender's voice. That is, the receiving terminal 20may output the text content of the text data to a voice of the user ofthe transmitting terminal 10.

The receiving terminal 20 may have a speaker to produce a voice output.To output the text content of the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal 10 to a voice, the receiving terminal 20 mayreceive voice data corresponding to the text data from an externaldevice. The receiving terminal 20 may output the voice data receivedfrom the external device through the speaker. The voice data is datathat is demodulated in the receiving terminal 20 and outputted throughthe speaker, and may be a collection of bits.

The receiving terminal 20 may demodulate text data transmitted from themobile communication network 30 and output the text content through thedisplay, and may demodulate voice data transmitted from the mobilecommunication network 30 and output a voice signal through the speaker.

The mobile communication network 30 may be provided with a text server200 and a voice server 100. The mobile communication network 30 maytransmit and receive text data and voice data using the text server 200and the voice server 100. The text server 200 may receive text data fromthe transmitting terminal 10, and transmit the text data to thereceiving terminal 20. The text server 200 may be provided with a textdatabase 210 to store the text data received from the transmittingterminal 10.

The voice server 100 includes a voice database 110 in which text dataand voice data corresponding to the text data is stored in matched form.The voice database 110 is where text data and voice data is stored inmatched form for each talker.

According to an embodiment, the voice database 110 may further storetext data and voice data in matched form for each sentence, each word,and/or each syllable. For example, the voice database 110 may store textdata “I met grandmother. We bought watermelons” and voice datacorresponding thereto in matched form. In this instance, the voicedatabase 110 may store text data and voice data corresponding thereto inmatched form for each of two sentences “I met grandmother” and “Webought watermelons”, may store text data and voice data correspondingthereto in matched form for each word “I”, “met”, “grandmother”, “we”,“bought”, and “watermelons”, and may store text data and voice datacorresponding thereto in matched form for each syllable “I”, “met”,“grand”, “moth”, “er”, “we”, “bought”, “wa”, “ter”, “mel”, and “ons”.Such information may be stored in the voice database 110 for eachtalker.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the voice database 110according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the voice database 110 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure stores text data and voice data in matchedform for each talker. That is, the voice database 110 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure stores text data and voice data inmatched form, in which the text data and the voice data is classified bytalker.

That is, the voice database 110 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure stores text data and voice data corresponding theretonot only by talker but also by sentence, by word, and by syllable foreach talker.

According to an embodiment, the voice database 110 may be constructedfrom a call made between the transmitting terminal 10 and the receivingterminal 20. That is, the voice database 110 may be constructed usingvoice data extracted from a call made between the transmitting terminal10 and the receiving terminal 20.

According to an embodiment, the voice server 100 may extract voice dataconstituting a call made between the transmitting terminal 10 and thereceiving terminal 20. In this instance, the voice server 100 mayextract voice data constituting a call in real time or after the callends. The voice server 100 may store voice data constituting a call bysentence, by word, and by syllable for each talker. Also, the voiceserver 100 may extract text data corresponding to the voice data fromthe voice data. For example, as in the above example, the voice server100 may extract text data from voice data “I met grandmother. We boughtwatermelons” presented by A during a call between A and B, for eachsentence, each word, and each syllable. In this instance, textextraction from voice data may be performed through known voicerecognition technology. According to an embodiment, text extraction fromvoice data may be performed on all syllables of the voice data throughsyllable-based voice recognition. When text data extraction is performedon all syllables, voice data-text data matching per syllable, voicedata-text data per word, and voice data-text data matching per sentencefollows, and through this, the voice database 110 may be constructed inwhich text data and voice data is stored in matched form for eachsyllable, each word, and each sentence.

Further, the voice server 100 may construct the voice database 110 eachtime a voice call between the transmitting terminal 10 and the receivingterminal 20 is repeated. That is, the voice server 100 may update thevoice database 110 each time a voice call between the transmittingterminal 10 and the receiving terminal 20 is repeated. The voice server100 conduct a search to determine whether voice data constituting a callis present in the already constructed voice database 110, and when voicedata constituting a call is absent in the already constructed voicedatabase 110, the voice server 100 may match the voice data with textdata corresponding to the voice data and store the same. In thisinstance, the voice data may be stored in matched form with text datafor each syllable, each word, and each sentence. When voice dataconstituting a call is present in the already constructed voice database110, the voice server 100 may maintain the voice data present in thealready constructed voice database 110, and may update the voice datapresent in the already constructed voice database 110 by using latestdata. Preferably, the voice server 100 may update the voice database 110by updating the already constructed voice database 110.

As the number of calls between the transmitting terminal 10 and thereceiving terminal 20 increases, the voice database 110 is updated andvoice information of a talker of the transmitting terminal 10 isgradually compensated for. That is, with the increasing number of callsbetween the transmitting terminal 10 and the receiving terminal 20,voice data may become more similar to a real voice of a texter. As anamount of voice data associated with syllables increases, more varioustexts may be represented with a voice, and as an amount of voice dataassociated with words or sentences increases, a voice more similar to areal voice may be outputted.

According to an embodiment, the voice server 100 may quantitate aconstruction degree of the voice database 110 constructed through avoice call between the transmitting terminal 10 and the receivingterminal 20. That is, the construction degree of the voice database 110may be quantitatively evaluated based on a predetermined criterion.Here, the quantitatively evaluated value may be classified into apredetermined grade. That is, the voice server 100 may grade theconstruction degree of the voice database 110 into a predetermined gradebased on the quantitated value of the construction degree of the voicedatabase 110.

The value quantitated by the voice server 100 and/or the grade for thequantitated value may be stored in the voice database 110 or a separatestoring medium, and may be transmitted to the receiving terminal 20. Thereceiving terminal 20 may receive the quantitated value and/or the gradefor the quantitated value from the voice server 100, and outputdifferent visual information by predetermined grade. For example, assumethe construction degree of the voice database 110 is classified intofive grades, the receiving terminal 20 may output five stars (⋆) for thefirst grade, four stars for the second grade, three stars for the thirdgrade, two stars for the fourth grade, and one star for the fifth gradethrough the display. Here, the visual information marked with a star (⋆)is for illustration purposes only, and the construction degree of thevoice database 110 may be presented on the display through a variety ofvisual information.

A method of quantitatively evaluating the construction degree of thevoice database 110 may be variously set. According to an embodiment, thevoice server 100 may quantitate the construction degree of the voicedatabase 110 for each texter by summing up the number of sentences, thenumber of words and the number of syllables stored in the voice database110. For example, assume there are 1,000 sentences, 10,000 words, and100,000 syllables in voice data and text data stored in the voicedatabase 110 for each sentence, each word, and each syllable, theconstruction degree of the voice database may be quantitated as 111,000(=1,000+10,000+100,000). According to another embodiment, the voiceserver 100 may quantitate the construction degree of the voice database110 by providing each weight to the number of sentences, the number ofwords, and the number of syllables stored in the voice database 110, andsumming up the weighted number of sentences, the weighted number ofwords, and the weighted number of syllables. As in the above example,assume there are 1,000 sentences, 10,000 words, and 100,000 syllables invoice data and text data stored in the voice database 110 for eachsentence, each word, and each syllable, the weight a is provided to thenumber of sentences, the weight b is provided to the number of words,and the weight c is provided to the number of syllables. Thus, theconstruction degree of the voice database 110 is quantitated as1,000*a+10,000*b+100,000*c. Preferably, the weights provided to each ofthe number of sentences, the number of words, and the number ofsyllables may be provided as below in consideration of the degree ofcompletion of the sentence. That is, the weight provided to the numberof sentences is preferably set to be higher than or equal to the weightprovided to the number of words, and the weight provided to the numberof words is preferably set to be higher than or equal to the weightprovided to the number of syllables (that is, in this example, a≧b≧c).

Further, the voice server 100 may search for voice data corresponding totext data received from an external device in the voice database 110. Inthis instance, the voice server 100 may search for voice datacorresponding to text data received from an external device for eachtalker. Also, the voice server 100 may extract voice data correspondingto text data from the voice database 110, and transmit the extractedvoice data to the receiving terminal 20. For example, when a person Atransmits text data to the receiving terminal 20 by using thetransmitting terminal 10, the voice server 100 may search forinformation associated with the talker A in the voice database 110,extract voice data of the talker A, and transmit the A's extracted voicedata to the receiving terminal 20.

Further, the voice server 100 may search for voice data corresponding totext data received from an external device for each sentence, each word,and each syllable. Preferably, the voice server 100 may search for textdata in an order of sentences, words, and syllables.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of extracting voice dataaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, the voice server 100 according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure extracts voice data from the voice database 110through the following process.

First, the voice server 100 receives text data from an external device(S301). For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the voice server 100 mayreceive text data from the text server 200. Subsequently, the voiceserver 100 conducts a search to determine whether information associatedwith a sender who transmitted the received text data is present in thevoice database 110 (S303). As a result of conducting a search in thevoice server 100, when information associated with the texter is storedin the voice database 110, a process of extracting the sender's voicedata corresponding to the text data is performed, and if not so, aprocess of converting the text data into a robot voice is performed(S315).

More specifically, as a result of conducting a search in the voiceserver 100, when information associated with the texter is stored in thevoice database 110, the voice server 100 conducts a search to determinewhether a sentence corresponding to a sentence of the text data ispresent in the voice database 110 (S305). When a sentence correspondingto a sentence of the text data is present in the voice database 110, thevoice server 100 extracts voice data (sentence) which matches thesentence of the text data from the voice database 110 (S307). Incontrast, when a sentence corresponding to a sentence of the text datais absent in the voice database 110, the voice server 100 conducts asearch to determine whether a word corresponding to a word of the textdata is present in the voice database 110 (S309). When a wordcorresponding to a word of the text data is present in the voicedatabase 110, the voice server 100 extracts voice data (word) whichmatches the word of the text data from the voice database 110 (S311). Incontrast, when a word corresponding to a word of the text data is absentin the voice database 110, the voice server 100 extracts voice data(syllable) which matches a syllable of the text data (S313).

When information associated with the sender is present in the voicedatabase 110, the voice server 100 iteratively performs the foregoingsteps (S305˜S313) for each sentence of the text data to extract voicedata for all the text data. The voice server 100 transmits the extractedvoice data to the receiving terminal 20 to allow the receiving terminal20 to output the text to the sender's voice.

When voice data which matches a syllable of the text data is absent inthe voice database 110, the voice server 100 may transmit a messagenotifying failed voice conversion due to insufficient voice informationto the receiving terminal 20, or may convert the text data to apre-stored robot voice and transmit the same to the receiving terminal20. In converting the text data to a robot voice, the voice server 100may convert only a syllable lacking voice information to a robot voiceand may convert all the sentences to a robot voice, and for theinsufficient syllable, may not perform voice conversion. In the same wayas the voice data for each sender, the robot voice may be stored in thevoice database 110, and voice data associated with a variety of knownsyllables, words, sentences may be stored in the voice database 110 inmatched form with text data.

As a result of determining whether information associated with thesender is present in the voice database 110, when information associatedwith the sender is absent in the voice database 110, the text data maybe converted to a pre-stored robot voice. The robot voice may bepre-stored in the voice database 110.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a process whereby thereceiving terminal 20 outputs a sentence in the text message transmittedfrom the transmitting terminal 10 to a voice by using the system foroutputting a text to a voice according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes thetransmitting terminal 10, the receiving terminal 20, and the mobilecommunication network 30. The mobile communication network 30 includesthe text server 200 and the voice server 100, and the voice server 100is provided with the voice database 110. In the example of FIG. 4, thevoice database 110 provided in the voice server 100 is constructed tostore text data and voice data in matched form for each talker, as wellas for each sentence, each word, and each syllable. Also, in the exampleof FIG. 4, the voice database 110 related to the talker A stores voicedata which matches the sentence “I met grandmother”, and voice datawhich matches each of the words “we” and “bought”, and voice data whichmatches each of the syllables “I”, “met”, “grand”, “moth”, “er”,“bought”, “wa”, “ter”, “mel”, and “ons” in matched form with eachsentence, each word, and each syllable.

First, when the transmitting terminal 10 transmits the text message “Imet grandmother. We bought watermelons” to the receiving terminal 20,the text data is transmitted to the text server 200 and the text server200 transmits the received text data to the receiving terminal 20 andthe voice server 100. The voice server 100 conducts a search todetermine whether information associated with the sender A whotransmitted the received text data is present in the database. Aspreviously presented, because information associated with A is presentin the database, the voice server 100 performs sentence matching. Thatis, the voice server 100 conducts a search to determine whether asentence included in the received text data is present in the voicedatabase 110. As previously presented, because the first sentence “I metgrandmother” is present in the voice database 110, the voice server 100extracts voice data (Avoice_sentence1) which matches “I metgrandmother”. Subsequently, the voice server 100 conducts a search todetermine whether the second sentence “we bought watermelons” is presentin the voice database 110. As previously presented, because informationcorresponding to the sentence “we bought watermelons” is absent in thevoice database 110, the voice server 100 performs word matching. Thatis, the voice server 100 conducts a search to determine whether a wordincluded in the received text data is present in the voice database 110.As previously presented, the first word “we” and the second word“bought” in the second sentence “we bought watermelons” are present inthe voice database 110, the voice server 100 extracts voice data(Avoice_word1) which matches “we” and voice data (Avoice_word2) whichmatches “bought”. However, because voice data which matches“watermelons” is absent in the voice database 110, the voice server 100performs syllable matching for the third word in the second sentence.That is, the voice server 100 extracts voice data Avoice_syllable8,Avoice_syllable9, Avoice_syllable10 and Avoice_syllablel1 which matcheseach of the syllables “wa”, “ter”, “mel”, and “ons” that make up thethird word “watermelons”.

Hereinafter, a method of outputting a text to a voice according to anembodiment of the present disclosure is described. The method ofoutputting a text to a voice according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be a method using the system for outputting a text to avoice as described above. That is, a subject of the method of outputtinga text to a voice according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay be at least one of the components of the above system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart schematically showing a method of outputting atext to a voice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, the method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be performed inaccordance with each step as illustrated.

First, the method begins with constructing the voice database 110 inwhich text data and voice data are stored in matched form for eachtalker (S510). Here, the voice data may be stored in matched form withtext data by sentence, by word and by syllable for each talker. Thevoice database 110 may be constructed by various methods. Preferably,the voice database 110 may be constructed using voice data transmittedduring a voice call made through the receiving terminal 20 and thetransmitting terminal 10.

Subsequently, the transmitting terminal 10 transmits text data to thereceiving terminal 20 (S520). In this instance, the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal 10 may be transmitted to thereceiving terminal 20 through the text server 200, and may betransmitted to the voice server 1 no through the text server 200.Subsequently, the voice server 100 conducts a search to determinewhether information associated with a sender who transmitted the textdata transmitted from the transmitting terminal 10 or the transmittingterminal 10 is present in the voice database 110. When informationassociated with the texter is present in the voice database 110, thevoice server 100 extracts voice data which matches the text data fromthe voice database 110 (S530). Preferably, the voice server 100 searchesfor voice data which matches the text data in a sequential order ofsentences, words, and syllables to extract voice data similar to a realtalker's voice. Subsequently, the voice server 100 transmits the voicedata which matches the text data to the receiving terminal 20.Subsequently, the receiving terminal 20 outputs the voice data whichmatches the text data through a speaker (S540). Through this, thereceiving terminal 20 may output a voice corresponding to the text dataas the sender's voice. Selectively, the receiving terminal 20 may notonly output a text through the display but also output a voice throughthe speaker. In this instance, the receiving terminal 20 has a button oran icon to select whether to output a voice, and when the button ispressed or the icon is selected, the receiving terminal 20 may beconfigured to output a voice. Also, the receiving terminal 20 may outputvisual information corresponding to a grade representing a constructiondegree of the voice database 110 through the display, to allow a user ofthe receiving terminal 20 to see the construction degree of the voicedatabase 110. The user of the receiving terminal 20 may intuitively knowthe construction degree of the voice database 110 through the visualinformation representing the construction degree of the voice database110. Also, the user of the receiving terminal 20 may indirectly know thedegree of communication via a voice call with a user of the transmittingterminal 10 through the construction degree of the voice database 110.Thus, a voice call between the user of the receiving terminal 20 and theuser of the transmitting terminal 10 may be induced.

The voice information of the talker of the transmitting terminal 10stored in organized manner by the above method may be used to convertnot only the text data transmitted from the transmitting terminal 10 butalso any other text data. For example, the receiving terminal 20 mayoutput books and documents stored in the receiving terminal 20 to thevoice of the talker, of the transmitting terminal 10 stored in organizedmanner. As another example, the receiving terminal 20 may output a musicwith the voice of the talker of the transmitting terminal 10 stored inorganized manner. As still another example, in an application designedto answer to a question, a voice being outputted may be changed to thevoice of the talker of the transmitting terminal 10 stored in organizedmanner. For example, an iOS application Siri's response may be convertedto the voice of the talker of the transmitting terminal 10.

Through this, the user of the receiving terminal 20 feels as if he/shereally makes a conversation with the talker of the transmitting terminal10, making a communication terminal become a companion such as a pet.

On the other hand, the above method may be programmed and stored instoring media readable by computer.

Although it is described that the operations for voice conversion anddata storage in organized manner are performed on the mobilecommunication network 30 in the above example, the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. That is, the operations may be performed in thetransmitting terminal 10 or the receiving terminal 20, and some may beperformed on a server of the mobile communication network 30 and theothers may be performed in the transmitting terminal 10 or the receivingterminal 20.

While the present disclosure has been hereinabove described by a limitednumber of embodiments and drawings, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto and it should be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the artwithin the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims and theirequivalents.

1. A method of outputting a text to a voice through a communicationterminal, the method of outputting a text to a voice comprising:transmitting, by a transmitting terminal, text data to a receivingterminal; and outputting, by the receiving terminal, text content of thetext data transmitted from the transmitting terminal to a voice of asender of the text data.
 2. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 1, before the receiving the text data, furthercomprising: constructing a voice database for voice data of the senderof the text data.
 3. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 2, wherein the constructing a voice databasecomprises storing voice data of the sender of the text data and textdata corresponding to the voice data in matched form.
 4. The method ofoutputting a text to a voice according to claim 3, wherein theconstructing a voice database comprises storing voice data of the senderof the text data and text data corresponding to the voice data for eachsentence, each word, and each syllable.
 5. The method of outputting atext to a voice according to claim 4, wherein the constructing a voicedatabase comprises constructing a voice database for voice data of thesender of the text data using voice data transmitted and received duringa voice call using the transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal.6. The method of outputting a text to a voice according to claim 5,wherein the constructing a voice database comprises constructing a voicedatabase with the repetition of voice calls between the transmittingterminal and the receiving terminal.
 7. The method of outputting a textto a voice according to claim 6, wherein the constructing a voicedatabase comprises further storing text data absent in an alreadyconstructed voice database among text data corresponding to voice dataconstituting a voice call between the transmitting terminal and thereceiving terminal in matched form with voice data corresponding to thetext data absent in the voice database, for each sentence, each word,and each syllable.
 8. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 7, wherein the constructing a voice databasecomprises updating and storing text data present in an alreadyconstructed voice database among text data corresponding to voice dataconstituting a voice call between the transmitting terminal and thereceiving terminal, in matched form with voice data corresponding totext data absent in the voice database, for each sentence, each word,and each syllable.
 9. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 8, after the constructing a voice database, furthercomprising: quantitating a construction degree of the voice databaseconstructed through the voice call between the transmitting terminal andthe receiving terminal.
 10. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 9, after the quantitating, further comprising:grading the construction degree of the voice database by a predeterminedgrade based on a value quantitated in the quantitating.
 11. The methodof outputting a text to a voice according to claim 9, after the grading,further comprising: outputting, by the receiving terminal, the gradegraded in the grading through a display.
 12. The method of outputting atext to a voice according to claim 11, wherein the outputting the gradedgrade comprises outputting different visual information based on thepredetermined grade.
 13. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 9, wherein the quantitating comprises quantitating aconstruction degree of the voice database for each text data sender bysumming up a number of sentences, a number of words, and a number ofsyllables in the voice data and the text data stored in the voicedatabase for each sentence, each word, and each syllable.
 14. The methodof outputting a text to a voice according to claim 9, wherein thequantitating comprises quantitating a construction degree of the voicedatabase for each text data sender by providing each weight to a numberof sentences, a number of words, and a number of syllables in the voicedata and the text data stored in the voice database for each sentence,each word, and each syllable, and summing up the weighted number ofsentences, the weighted number of words, and the weighted number ofsyllables.
 15. The method of outputting a text to a voice according toclaim 14, wherein the weight provided to the number of sentences ishigher than or equal to the weight provided to the number of words, andthe weight provided to the number of words is higher than or equal tothe weight provided to the number of syllables.
 16. The method ofoutputting a text to a voice according to claim 2, before the outputtingto a voice, further comprising: conducting a search to determine whetherinformation that matches information associated with the sender of thetext data is present in the voice database; extracting, from the voicedatabase, voice data corresponding to the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal based on a search result in the conducting asearch; and transmitting the voice data extracted in the extracting tothe receiving terminal.
 17. The method of outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 16, wherein the extracting voice data comprisesextracting voice data of the sender of the text data stored in the voicedatabase when information that matches information associated with thesender of the text data is present in the voice database as a searchresult in the conducting a search.
 18. (canceled)
 19. The method ofoutputting a text to a voice according to claim 4, before the outputtingto a voice, further comprising: conducting a search to determine whetherinformation that matches information associated with the sender of thetext data is present in the voice database; extracting, from the voicedatabase, voice data corresponding to the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal based on a search result of the conducting asearch; and transmitting the voice data extracted in the extracting tothe receiving terminal, wherein the extracting voice data comprises:extracting, from the voice database, voice data that matches a sentencecorresponding to a sentence included in the text data transmitted fromthe transmitting terminal; extracting, from the voice database, voicedata that matches a word corresponding to a word included in the textdata transmitted from the transmitting terminal; and extracting, fromthe voice database, voice data that matches a syllable corresponding toa syllable included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal.
 20. The method of outputting a text to a voice according toclaim 19, wherein the extracting a word is performed after theextracting a sentence, and when extracting voice data for apredetermined sentence is successively performed in the extracting asentence, extracting a word for the predetermined sentence is notperformed, and the extracting a syllable is performed after theextracting a word, and when extracting voice data for a predeterminedword is successively performed in the extracting a word, extracting asyllable for the predetermined word is not performed.
 21. The method ofoutputting a text to a voice according to claim 20, wherein theextracting a sentence, the extracting a word, and the extracting asyllable are iteratively performed on at least two sentences included inthe text data transmitted from the transmitting terminal.
 22. A systemfor outputting a text to a voice, comprising: a communication network; atransmitting terminal to transmit text data to a receiving terminal viathe communication network; and a receiving terminal to output voice dataof a sender of the text data who transmitted the text data, the voicedata corresponding to the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal via the communication network.
 23. The system for outputting atext to a voice according to claim 22, wherein the communication networkis provided with a voice server which constructs a voice database forvoice data of the sender of the text data.
 24. The system for outputtinga text to a voice according to claim 23, wherein the voice servermatches voice data of the sender of the text data to text datacorresponding to the voice data, and stores the same in the voicedatabase.
 25. The system for outputting a text to a voice according toclaim 24, wherein the voice server stores voice data of the sender ofthe text data and text data corresponding to the voice data for eachsentence, each word, and each syllable.
 26. The system for outputting atext to a voice according to claim 25, wherein the voice serverconstructs a voice database for voice data of the sender of the textdata using voice data transmitted and received during a voice call usingthe transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal.
 27. The system foroutputting a text to a voice according to claim 26, wherein the voiceserver constructs the voice database with the repetition of voice callsbetween the transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal.
 28. Thesystem for outputting a text to a voice according to claim 27, whereinthe voice server further stores text data absent in an alreadyconstructed voice database among text data corresponding to voice dataconstituting a voice call between the transmitting terminal and thereceiving terminal, in matched form with voice data corresponding to thetext data absent in the voice database, for each sentence, each word,and each syllable.
 29. The system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 28, wherein the voice server updates and stores textdata present in an already constructed voice database among text datacorresponding to voice data constituting a voice call between thetransmitting terminal and the receiving terminal, in matched form withvoice data corresponding to text data absent in the voice database, foreach sentence, each word, and each syllable.
 30. The system foroutputting a text to a voice according to claim 29, wherein the voiceserver quantitates a construction degree of the voice databaseconstructed through the voice call between the transmitting terminal andthe receiving terminal.
 31. The system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 30, wherein the voice server grades the constructiondegree of the voice database into a predetermined grade based on thequantitated value.
 32. The system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 30, wherein the receiving terminal outputs the gradegraded into the predetermined grade through a display.
 33. The systemfor outputting a text to a voice according to claim 32, wherein thereceiving terminal outputs different visual information based on thepredetermined grade.
 34. The system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 30, wherein the voice server quantitates aconstruction degree of the voice database for each text data sender bysumming up a number of sentences, a number of words, and a number ofsyllables of the voice data and the text data stored in the voicedatabase for each sentence, each word, and each syllable.
 35. The systemfor outputting a text to a voice according to claim 30, wherein thevoice server quantitates a construction degree of the voice database foreach text data sender by providing each weight to a number of sentences,a number of words, and a number of syllables in the voice data and thetext data stored in the voice database for each sentence, each word, andeach syllable, and summing up the weighted number of sentences, theweighted number of words, and the weighted number of syllables.
 36. Thesystem for outputting a text to a voice according to claim 35, whereinthe weight provided to the number of sentences is higher than or equalto the weight provided to the number of words, and the weight providedto the number of words is higher than or equal to the weight provided tothe number of syllables.
 37. The system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 23, wherein the voice server receives the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal, conducts a search todetermine whether information that matches information associated withthe sender of the text data is present in the voice database, extracts,from the voice database, voice data corresponding to the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal based on a result of theconducting a search, and transmits the extracted voice data to thereceiving terminal.
 38. The system for outputting a text to a voiceaccording to claim 37, wherein the voice server extracts voice data ofthe sender of the text data stored in the voice database wheninformation that matches information associated with the sender of thetext data is present in the voice database as a result of the conductinga search.
 39. The system for outputting a text to a voice according toclaim 37, wherein the voice server extracts a robot voice stored in thevoice database when information that matches information associated withthe sender of the text data is absent in the voice database as a resultof the conducting a search.
 40. The system for outputting a text to avoice according to claim 36, wherein the voice server receives the textdata transmitted from the transmitting terminal, conducts a search todetermine whether information that matches information associated withthe sender of the text data is present in the voice database, extracts,from voice database, voice data corresponding to the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal based on a result of theconducting a search, and transmits the extracted voice data to thereceiving terminal, and in the extracting, from the voice database,voice data corresponding to the text data transmitted from thetransmitting terminal based on a result of the conducting a search, thevoice server conducts a search for a text content included in the textdata transmitted from the transmitting terminal in the voice database,and extracts at least one of voice data that matches a sentencecorresponding to a sentence included in the text data transmitted fromthe transmitting terminal, voice data that matches a word correspondingto a word included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal, and voice data that matches a syllable corresponding to asyllable included in the text data transmitted from the transmittingterminal.
 41. The system for outputting a text to a voice according toclaim 40, wherein when voice data that matches a sentence correspondingto a predetermined sentence included in the text data transmitted fromthe transmitting terminal is present in the voice database, the voiceserver extracts only voice data that matches the sentence correspondingto the predetermined sentence, and when voice data that matches a wordcorresponding to a predetermined word included in the text datatransmitted from the transmitting terminal is present in the voicedatabase, the voice server extracts only voice data that matches theword corresponding to the predetermined word.
 42. The system foroutputting a text to a voice according to claim 41, wherein the voiceserver performs voice data extraction on at least two sentences includedin the text data transmitted from the transmitting terminal.
 43. Themethod of outputting a text to a voice according to claim 16, whereinthe extracting voice data comprises extracting a robot voice stored inthe voice database when information that matches information associatedwith the sender of the text data is absent in the voice database as asearch result in the conducting a search.